Spencer calls on Goverment to make energy move

AS he sits in his corner office of the impressive One Humber Quays building overlooking the Hull Marina, Charlie Spencer could be forgiven for boasting about the rise of the company he launched in 1989 from his home in Anlaby with his wife and two staff.

But the chief executive of Spencer Group is matter of fact as he describes how the firm progressed to space above a hairdresser’s shop and on to a yard in Barrow-upon-Humber and later a network of offices across the country.

Last year, the business, which now employs 400 people, bought the One Humber Quays building as its new headquarters – the setting a fitting statement for a company looking to be at the centre of the green energy revolution taking shape in the area.

It is developing Energy Works, a power plant for Hull that will use a mix of technologies including composting, anaerobic digestion and a method of burning waste known as fluidised bed gasification to generate enough electricity for 25,000 homes and stop 200,000 tonnes of rubbish going into landfill every year.

Many businessmen would baulk at the idea of developing a complex project that combines two highly regulated areas in waste and energy and also requires key decisions to be taken by politicians.

However, Mr Spencer insists it is a logical move for a specialist engineering business that has built a reputation for taking on challenges other companies might shy away from.

Its current portfolio of work includes a contract with Magnox to develop processes for handling low and medium level nuclear waste.

“That is fantastic framework for us to win,” he said, “because that industry is dominated by huge companies and we are talking about designing robots, getting them built, coming up with innovative stuff.

“That’s the end we like to be at, not because we make any money out of it but just that we enjoy doing it. I’m not really driven by money, you’ll never find me with cash in my pockets it’s more about what’s interesting.”

That fascination with “interesting” projects has seen Spencer Group evolve from a piling contractor to a diverse engineering business with expertise ranging from rail  maintenance to helping power generator Drax develop systems to handle biomass as a major source of fuel.

Mr Spencer said that the more the company worked in the energy sector, the more he became interested in moving towards “the hot end” and the idea for Energy Works was born.

After more than two years of development work, he estimates the project is within six months of getting underway as discussions over financing – including a £20m European Union grant where a decision is expected shortly – reach their conclusion.

But one major hurdle remains in the shape of the Government’s Energy Bill which will set subsidies for the industry which will in turn require European approval.

“All the jobs that are going to flow from the Energy Bill are throughout the renewable industry, from onshore and offshore wind to biomass conversions to tidal power and carbon capture – the whole gambit. It’s in excess of 100,000 jobs and we are all paying for that on our electric bills but most of the people paying those bills are in the South East and those jobs are going to be created and stay in Yorkshire. Yorkshire is a major beneficiary.

“Until the Energy Bill becomes law in this country and passed by Europe, people won’t spend their money, quite rightly, to develop any of these schemes.”

Energy Works is set to be the first plant of its kind in the UK but Mr Spencer is confident if it can be made to work in Hull it can be replicated across the country.

“Exactly the same solution can be employed elsewhere because the waste streams are very similar. You have food waste, black bag waste, industry and commercial waste which has traditionally all gone into landfill.

“We say knowledge is power and to build and operate that plant gives us an enormous advantage when we want to talk to councils and other people elsewhere in the country.”